As shown in FIG. 1, integrated circuits are typically encapsulated in a package 10 of a suitable material, such as epoxy, from which conductive leads 12 project. Although the leads 12 are shown in FIG. 1 as being conductors that project laterally and then downwardly, other lead configurations are in common use.
The encapsulation of the integrated circuit is typically performed by placing the integrated circuit in a mold then injecting a molding compound into the mold. A typical integrated circuit injection mold 20 is shown in FIG. 2. The mold 20 includes a rectangular upper mold section 26 and a matching lower mold section 28, each of which have a series of mold cavities 36, 38, respectively, formed in respective adjoining mold surfaces 30, 32. Each of the adjoining pairs of mold cavities 36, 38 generally encapsulate a single integrated circuit, although it is possible to encapsulate several interconnected integrated circuits in a single mold cavity pair. Eight mold cavities 36, 38 are shown in FIG. 2, but a greater or lesser number of mold cavities may be formed in conventional mold sections. The mold cavities 36, 38 are typically rectangular to match the desired shape of the integrated circuit package 10 (FIG. 1), but other shapes are also possible.
In practice, before the integrated circuits are placed in respective pairs of mold cavities 36, 38, they are attached to a leadframe, and the integrated circuit and leadframe are placed between the mold sections 26, 28. A typical leadframe 40 is shown in FIG. 3A. The leadframe 40 includes several leadframe sections 44 corresponding in number to the number of pairs of mold cavities 36, 38, and corresponding in size and shape to the size and shape of the mold cavities 36, 38. A single leadframe section 44 is shown in FIG. 3B. With reference to FIG. 3B, each leadframe section 44 includes a central mounting plate 46 to which an integrated circuit 48 is mounted by suitable means, such as adhesive tape (not shown). Each leadframe section 44 also includes a plurality of inner leads 50 projecting from each side of the central mounting plate 46 to a respective gasket strip 52, and a plurality of outer leads 56 aligned with respective inner leads 50 extending from the gasket strips 52. The outer leads 56 are what eventually form the leads 12 shown in FIG. 1. The leadframe 40 also includes leadframe rails 60, 62 extending along the longitudinal edges of the leadframe 40. Although not shown in the Figures, after the package 10 has been formed, the portions of the gasket strips 52 between the leads 50, 56 are removed to electrically isolate the leads 50, 56 from each other, and the outer leads 56 are bent downwardly as shown in FIG. 1 to form the leads 12.
The leadframe 40 to which the integrated circuit 48 is attached is placed in the mold 20 between the mold sections 26, 28, with each leadframe section 44 aligned with a respective pair of mold cavities 36, 38. The leadframe 40 is also placed in the mold 20 so that the gasket strips 52 and leadframe rails 60 extend around the cavities 36, 38 in contact with the mold surfaces 30, 32 so that the leadframe 40 acts as a gasket to retain material within the cavities 36, 38.
After the leadframe and integrated circuit 48 have been placed in the mold 20, a molding compound is injected into each pair of the cavities 36, 38 through a respective injection inlet 70 (FIG. 2) provided for each pair of mold cavities 36, 38 at one edge thereof. The injection inlets are formed in either or both of the mold sections 26, 28. The injection inlets 70 provide a path for the molding compound, generally an epoxy compound, to be injected into the mold cavities 26, 28. The molding compound attempts to displace air in the mold cavities 36, 38, and this air must therefore be vented from the cavities 36, 38. For this purpose, mold vents 74 are formed in either or both of the mold sections 26, 28 through an edge of each pair of mold cavities 36, 38 opposite the injection inlets 70.
In practice, before the mold 20 can be used, it must be prepared by injecting a conditioning compound into the mold cavities 36, 38. The conditioning compound contains release agents to make the surfaces of the mold cavities 36, 38 slippery so that the integrated circuit packages 10 (FIG. 1) can be removed from the mold cavities 36, 38 after being molded. Although the molding compound also contains release compounds, the molding compound does not contain a sufficient quantity for initial use of the mold. The conditioning compound is normally injected into the mold cavities 36, 38 after a leadframe has been inserted between the mold sections 26, 28. The leadframe 40 serves as a gasket to retain the conditioning compound in the cavities 36, 38. Also, since the conditioning compound surrounds the leadframe 40 within the mold cavities 36, 38, removal of the leadframe 40 effectively removes the conditioning compound from the mold cavities 36, 38.
After the mold 20 has been used to mold a large number of integrated circuit packages 10, typically on the order of 500–2,500 packages, the release compound in the molding compound and possibly other components in the molding compound build up as deposits on the surfaces of the mold cavities 36, 38. These deposits must be removed to prevent the molding compound from sticking to the surfaces of the cavities 36, 38 and thereby damaging the integrated circuit packages 10 (FIG. 1). These deposits are removed by injecting a cleaning compound into the mold cavities 36, 38. The cleaning compound is injected through the injection inlets 70 to displace all of the air in the mold cavities 36, 38 until some cleaning compound starts to exit the vents 74. The cleaning compound is somewhat “sticky” so that the cleaning compound adheres well to the deposits, thus allowing the deposits to be removal by simply removing the cleaning compound from the mold cavities 36, 38. The cleaning compound is also typically relatively viscous, contains cleaning chemicals and abrasives, and shrinks after cooling to draw the deposits from the surfaces of the mold cavities 36, 38.
The leadframe performs the same two functions during the cleaning process that it performs in the conditioning process. First, as previously explained, it forms a gasket between the mold sections 26, 28. Without a leadframe between the mold sections 26, 28, the cleaning compound could leak from between the mold sections 26, 28. Second, the cleaning compound adheres to the leadframe so that the cleaning compound is removed from the mold 20 along with the leadframe. The leadframe thus facilitates the removal of cleaning compound from the mold cavities 36, 38.
Although removal of the leadframe adequately removes the cleaning compound from the mold cavities 36, 38, some cleaning compound residue, known as “flash,” tends to remain in the vents 74. Yet substantially all of the cleaning compound flash must be removed from the vents 74 before the mold 20 can be used to mold integrated circuit packages 10. If the flash is not removed from the vents 74, molding compound injected through the injection inlet 70 will be unable to displace air in the mold cavities 36, 38. Cleaning compound flash in the vents 74 is conventionally removed by a laborious and time-consuming process of manually scraping shreds of flash from the vents 74 using a pointed tool (not shown). During the time the flash is being removed from the vents 74, the injection molding machine containing the mold 20 cannot be used to mold integrated circuit packages 10. As a result, the throughput of the molding machine can be reduced significantly. Furthermore, the mold 20 is typically very hot after it has been placed in the injection molding machine so the cleaning compound can be injected into the mold cavities 36, 38. The high temperature of the mold 20 can injure workers manually removing the flash, and the high degree of care required to avoid injury further increases the time required to manually remove the flash from the vents 74. Also, the tool normally used to remove the cleaning compound is fairly sharp, and, as a result, can damage the mold, thus making expensive repair or replacement of the mold necessary.
There is therefore a need for a device and method that is capable of removing cleaning compound flash from injection mold vents that avoids the laborious and time-consuming manual removal of cleaning compound flash.